Microsoft Targets iTunes Prices in New Zune Pass Commercial

[LagunaSol]

Agreed, but I would also find more music that I enjoyed.

I find it easier (i.e. I don't have to comb through a huge catalog and spend my time downloading a bunch of stuff) and cheaper (i.e. "free") to find new music that I enjoy via Slacker Radio and Pandora.

Experience new music I like for free (and with no work required at my end) and buy the songs that I like.

Cheaper and easier than Zune Pass. YMMV.

 

[bobertoq]

I would use ZunePass if it had iPod support.....

 

[Sehnsucht]

I personally have never seen a Zune in "the wild" here in Glasgow, and I've never seen one for sale in the high street electronics stores like Currys.

They're only sold in the U.S. and Canada. Consider yourselves lucky.

 

[LagunaSol]

Oh, and how many sweet games/apps can you download for that Zune, Microsoft? I'm sure you'll talk about that in your next ad...

 

[zdp]

iPod + Pandora App = win!

MS model:
1. Copy Apple
2. Invoke monopoly power
3. ?
4. Profit!

 

[Goona]

Ah I see. I like the part where you disputed the facts with your opinion and came to a logical conclusion, how very intelligent of you.

Here you go:

http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/05/ipod-loses-mark/

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/16744.cfm

Just wanted to point out that's probably because the Zune is only on sale in the USA and Canada.

I live in Canada and have never seen one outside of Best Buy/Future Shop.

 

[LagunaSol]

That's the plan with all console manufacturers, sell the console at an initial loss and generate a profit from the royalty on games sold and eventually the hardware becomes profitable. The Wii is the first time a console has been sold making a profit from the get go because it's "underpowered".

Your second sentence seems to contradict your first.

Unless you don't consider Nintendo a "console manufacturer."

 

[GenNovE]

Some fans are just so close minded.

The zune pass deal is one of the best deals you can get around.

You get to keep 10 tracks a month which=1 album for free a month.

let me repeat it again you pay 14.99 a month get to keep an album for free
and have access to a library that is the equivalent of itunes.

I dont know how that sounds stupid at all.
the service totals to 179.88 a year with 120 free songs & unlimited legal access to music. In itunes those 120 free songs would equal out to 120 dollars or more now with the new pricing tier. So for 50 bucks more to have everything the zunepass have to offer is more then a bargain if you ask me.

(basing it on a person spending no more then 120 a year on itunes. now if they want to have 1000 songs then it quickly turns into itunes 1k(yearly) for 1000 songs.... zunepass 14.99/a month/179.88 (yearly) for unlimited hmmmm)

But for some strange reason people refuse to see through the crack.

 

[BongoBanger]

It's quite a good advert. The public will only see the bottom line figure so it's not badly done.

 

[orangetrumpeter]

I guess OWNERSHIP means nothing anymore....

 

[WeegieMac]

They're only sold in the U.S. and Canada. Consider yourselves lucky.

As I said to the other guy mate, I had no idea it wasn't available worldwide ... I've always used iPods, and just upgraded as and when I needed to.

 

[zdp]

It's really only worth it if you would normally spend $120/yr on music (to get those 10 free songs). I doubt many of us do... I know that I don't anyway. Heck I still have $30 worth of iTunes gift cards on my account that I've received over 2 years in Xmas gifts.

 

[bobertoq]

Yet another linear-minded response to Mac vs. PC ads, stylistically speaking.

Owning music just isn't cool anymore, guys!

When it comes to Microsoft trying to make points against an Apple product, this one may very well be the dumbest.

This is much worse than their laptop hunter series.

And it's odd to me that Microsoft is conceding Apple's central premise in all these recent ads: Apple is concerned with quality while MS/generic PCs are concerned with low-cost.

I don't understand all this criticism. I think this is such a great idea. I would sign up for this service if it had iPod support any day.

 

[moussekateer]

Here you go:

http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/05/ipod-loses-mark/

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/16744.cfm

Nice work there. But how about you find a marketshare article that isn't a year old and point me out the part where it says the Zune is unprofitable in the second source.

 

[WeegieMac]

Some fans are just so close minded.

The zune pass deal is one of the best deals you can get around.

You get to keep 10 tracks a month which=1 album for free a month.
So that means that you pay 14.99 a month get to keep an album for free
and have access to a library that is the equivalent of itunes.

I dont know how that sounds stupid at all.
the service totals to 179.88 a year with 120 free songs & unlimited legal access to music. In itunes those 120 free songs would equal out to 120 dollars or more now with the new pricing tier. So for 50 bucks more to have everything the zunepass have to offer is more then a bargain if you ask me.

But for some strange reason people refuse to see through the crack.

And while people bleat on about the ZunePass and iTunes, everyone seems to ignore the fact that the majority of everyone's iTunes library is made up of songs ripped from their own CD collection or CD's borrowed from friends.

My 8GB iPod touch is full of MP3's ripped at 192kps from my own CD collection, with my entire iTunes library having only one album bought from iTunes, which was Disturbed's "Ten Thousand Fists".

For the record, I have 142 albums which come in at just 11GB, but still it renders the whole advert pointless because no-one would ever fill an iPod with iTunes store only purchases.

 

[Slim02]

Actually I do believe the Zune has become profitable, not just on music sales for the device, but for hardware. Even if it is not profitable in the short term, the long term plan might be 'hook' users on the device now, at a loss, so in the future they will choose a Zune rather than an iPod.

Really. Because the last time I checked the Zune only works with Windows and not Mac..

iPod works on both Mac and Windows
Zune works on Windows only..

So I own 2 Mac's and have friends that own PC.. So I can use my iPod on my Mac and also use it on my friends Window PC (if I have it formated for windows).. I can not do that with a Zune. Also I can use my iPod in the Car because it has iPod control build in.. No Car stereo have Zune controls..

Zune is a failure in my book.. It is a joke of a MP3 player..

 

[LagunaSol]

I dont know how that sounds stupid at all.
the service totals to 179.88 a year with 120 free songs & unlimited legal access to music. In itunes those 120 free songs would equal out to 120 dollars or more now with the new pricing tier. So for 50 bucks more to have everything the zunepass have to offer is more then a bargain if you ask me.

But for some strange reason people refuse to see through the crack.

This really isn't rocket science, but here goes.

MOST PEOPLE DON'T SPEND $179.88 A YEAR ON MUSIC! MOST PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO SPEND $179.88 A YEAR ON MUSIC!

Sure, Zune Pass is a great deal for people who dump bucket loads of money on music. But this ad isn't targeting those people (as those people are smart enough to realize it really doesn't cost $30,000 to fill an iPod with content).

Subscription services are a way to generate a consistent revenue stream for the record companies (and, in this case, Microsoft). And coerce buyers to spend more money than they normally would.

I have no problem with Zune Pass. Renting music is not for me, but I'd like to see it as an option in iTunes - though the market has spoken on the matter already.

What I have a problem with is the "let's exploit the stupidity of the common consumer" nature of this Microsoft ad.

And exploiting the stupidity of the common consumer is what got Microsoft on top of the pile to begin with. So hey, go with what works I suppose.

 

[moussekateer]

Your second sentence seems to contradict your first.

Unless you don't consider Nintendo a "console manufacturer."

Very picky aren't you? Fair enough by all I meant to say almost all with the Wii being a very unique exception. I would have hoped you could have thought of that yourself, but I guess not

 

[GenNovE]

And while people bleat on about the ZunePass and iTunes, everyone seems to ignore the fact that the majority of everyone's iTunes library is made up of songs ripped from their own CD collection or CD's borrowed from friends.

My 8GB iPod touch is full of MP3's ripped at 192kps from my own CD collection, with my entire iTunes library having only one album bought from iTunes, which was Disturbed's "Ten Thousand Fists".

For the record, I have 142 albums which come in at just 11GB, but still it renders the whole advert pointless because no-one would ever fill an iPod with iTunes store only purchases.

But of course they have to base it on itunes purchases. They can easily go another route and say buy 1 CD for 11.99 or pay 14.99 get that cd for free and have access to millions of songs.

Why would they even touch the subject on borrowed or ripped when they are trying to compete? At the end of the day in a walgreens world everybody would pay for music. But reality is far from it.

No matter how you see this ad.. it makes sense only if you decide to expand your mind a little.

I mean if you get down into basics statistics you can see the zunepass ahead in terms of bargain value.

i think the people making a fuzz about subscription plans are the ones that refuse to move on with technology. Eventually you wont have to own anything if it is easily accesible from the internet. Cloud storage is clear representation of whats ahead.

Eventually digital format will evolutionaize and the only way it will do it is by being clouded. PHYSICAL FORMAT IS DEAD is only alive to people who refuse to let go of the past. WHO WANTS TO OWN 1000Cds taking up space?

 

[LagunaSol]

Very picky aren't you? Fair enough by all I meant to say almost all with the Wii being a very unique exception. I would have hoped you could have thought of that yourself, but I guess not

Sorry, but I just can't get over the comedy gold that is Nintendo waltzing in with an underpowered console and absolutely wiping the floor with Sony and Microsoft and all their billions of dollars. Despite the raging derision of Sony and Microsoft and their fanboy masses when the Wii was announced.

True innovation > throwing boatloads of money at a problem.

It's just a beautiful thing.

P.S. did Nintendo sell the GameCube at a loss? Nintendo 64? SuperNintendo? Maybe they did, I don't know.

 

[Dias]

So why haven't all these other subscription models suceeded and taken over the market. People don't want to pay a monthly fee just to listen to music, if I want to hear music, there are numerous avenues to listen to music. This is why itunes is the top music vendor in the world.

iTunes is the top music retailer not because of it's business model, but because of the iPod. If and when Apple won't be able to manufacture "omg it's cool" iPod, iTunes will die the day after.
And that's the problem with MS: it's not about subscription model (which does much more sense for people who wanna stay up-to-date without spending a fortune), but about hardware, Zune isn't just as appealing as iPod.

 

[GenNovE]

This really isn't rocket science, but here goes.

MOST PEOPLE DON'T SPEND $179.88 A YEAR ON MUSIC! MOST PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO SPEND $179.88 A YEAR ON MUSIC!

Sure, Zune Pass is a great deal for people who dump bucket loads of money on music. But this ad isn't targeting those people (as those people are smart enough to realize it really doesn't cost $30,000 to fill an iPod with content).

Subscription services are a way to generate a consistent revenue stream for the record companies (and, in this case, Microsoft). And coerce buyers to spend more money than they normally would.

I have no problem with Zune Pass. Renting music is not for me, but I'd like to see it as an option in iTunes - though the market has spoken on the matter already.

What I have a problem with is the "let's exploit the stupidity of the common consumer" nature of this Microsoft ad.

And exploiting the stupidity of the common consumer is what got Microsoft on top of the pile to begin with. So hey, go with what works I suppose.

So how would a itunes subscription be any different?
And why would you like it as an option but yet dont agree with current subscription models?

Is it because apple would "exploit the stupidity of the common consumer" in a glossy manner opposed to a direct comparison?

They are speaking in terms of value. They are pointing out that if you obtain your music legally through the internet it would cost you this much the itunes route and this much the zunepass route. I think this message is taken out of context or maybe is just an excuse to discredit the obvious/reality?

 

[wbeasley]

Next step, rent a Zune

If M$ really believed in the rent-it-rather-than-own-it model, they'd let you rent a Zune from them for a few bucks a month.

Let's see if they do that one!

Actually, if they can't sell them, maybe they should look at renting out the stock they can't move. It's doing nothing just sitting there

 

[BongoBanger]

Sorry, but I just can't get over the comedy gold that is Nintendo waltzing in with an underpowered console and absolutely wiping the floor with Sony and Microsoft and all their billions of dollars. Despite the raging derision of Sony and Microsoft and their fanboy masses when the Wii was announced.

True innovation > throwing boatloads of money at a problem.

It's just a beautiful thing.

P.S. did Nintendo sell the GameCube at a loss? Nintendo 64? SuperNintendo? Maybe they did, I don't know.

I'm not sure the Wii and the Xbox 360/PS3 are the same market. Most people I know either have a Wii and one of the others or wouldn't have bought a console in the first place if the Wii wasn't there.

And if you think MS and Sony fanboys are bad you should have seen the console flamewars when the N64 came out!

 

[LagunaSol]

So how would a itunes subscription be any different?

And why would you like it as an option but yet dont agree with current subscription models?

Is it because apple would "exploit the stupidity of the common consumer" in a glossy manner opposed to a direct comparison?

1) It wouldn't be different.

2) I like to see choice, even if all the choices available aren't my cup of tea.

3) Apple wouldn't run an ad with such an obvious play on customer ignorance. $30,000 to fill an iPod, what a crock of dung.